OPINION
Celtic may be in line to receive a permanent spot in the Champions League due to their historical significance to football, and it could prove to be an absolute disaster for the Hoops.
Europe’s premier competition is set to undergo a revamp, and according to a report in Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, amongst the proposals is a plan to give wild card entry to teams that have enriched the competition in the past.
As the first British winners of the European Cup back in 1967, that would surely apply to Celtic, who could then be given a place in the group stage every season.
But that would not be a good thing.
First and foremost, from a holistic standpoint, football should be a meritocracy. Entrenching certain teams into certain advantageous roles in the game’s hierarchy will only serve to widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
From a purely Celtic-centric point of view, however, the move would surely be regressive.
It might sound like a grand plan that would rocket the Hoops back into the upper echelons of European competition, but the fact of the matter is that they are light-years behind most of the teams they would be coming up against.
Immediately, they would become one of the whipping boys of the competition, but because their domestic dominance is all but guaranteed, there would be no need for them to improve.
At the moment, the Champions League is the motivation. The Bhoys know they can’t win it, but getting there is enough. If you then hand that to the club on a silver platter, bearing in mind they will never have enough to properly challenge in the latter stages, you are essentially consigning the club to a bizarre footballing limbo.
This can only be a step backwards.